Automatic photographic-printing machine.



G. W. FERGUSON.

1 AUTOMATIC PHOTOGRAPHIG PRINTING 111101111113.

Patented Aug18, 191-1.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 29, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

/A 0 8 m w m N G R W i .m m? M E 6 Y W E J M A W .2 4 1 W .H I 0v 1 A wllytwflmlIiJnairfiw 6 1 6 1 1.1 1 w N 111N111 1 \THFAM 1H s I l lWITNESSES." 'am flw v G. W. FERGUSON.

AUTOMATIC PHOTOGRAPHIO PRINTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION TILED NOV. 29, 1910.

Patented Aug. 8, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

wlmsszs: 6559 6 A7TOR/VEYS my prior GEORGE W. FERGUSON, OF SPRINGFIELD,MISSOURI.

' AUTOMATIC PHOTOGRAPHIC-PRINTING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented An 8, 1911.

Application filed November 29, 1910. 2 Serial No. 594,753.

T 0 all whom it mag concern.

' Be it known that I, GEORGE \V. FERGUSON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Springfield, in the county of Greene and Stateof Missouri, have made certa n new and useful Improvements in AutomaticMachines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in automatic photographic printingmachines,

and it consists in the combinations, eon.-

structions and arrangements herein described'and claimed.

A11 ob ect of my inventlon is to provide an improved device over thatdisclosed in- Patent :fi: 957,665 of May-10, 1910. In the patentreferred to, I disclose means for timing an exposure, the said meansincluding electric light circuits and devices whereby these circuitswere cut on or out off.

The object of the present invention is to provide improved-devices fortiming the ex posure. These improved devices include a novel means forswitching on and oif the circuits, and also novel means for controllingthe same.

A further object of my invention is to provide a removable lamp holderwhich may be quickly removed from the device so as to replace the lampsin case any of them should become broken, and as quickly replaced, thereplacement of the lamp holder serving to again bring the lamps intocircuit.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specificationand the novel features of the device will be particularly pointed out inthe appendedclaims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming part ofthis application in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view showing oneembodiment of my invention, the end of the casing being removed for thesake of clearness, Fig. 2 is a section through the casing just above thetier of lamps, Fig. 3 is a view of the device from one end, the end ofthe casing being removed, Fig. 1 is a section along the line 41-4: ofFig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows, Fig; 5 is a plan view ofthe dial for the timing mechanism, Fig. 6 is a section along the line6-6 of- Fig. 3, and Fig. 7 is a detail section showing the needle valve.

'In carr ying out my invention I provide a main box or casingconsisting.of the bottom 1, the front and rear sides 2- and 3, respectively, andends similar to the end shown in Fig. 2, the end opposite 1 being of thesame form as the end 4, and being removed for the sake of clearness inboth Figs. 1 and 3. Within the casing is a partition 5 on one side ofwhich a portion of the timing mechanism is secured.

Hinged to the rear side 3 is a cover which consists of aback portion 6.to which is hinged a front portion 7 The purpose of this double coverwill be explained later. i

A lever or a handle 8 ishinged to the back portion 6 of the cover at 9and is normally kept away therefrom by a spring 10, as

shown in Fig. 3. The front portion of the lever .8 is split as shown at11 to provide spring catches. These spring, catches work in a guide loop12 and are. arranged to engage the locking catches 113 and 14 on theplate 15 which is secured to the'upper edge ofthe side 2.]

At one end of the casing just outside of the partition 5 is an aircylinder 16 which is provided with a plunger 17 This plunger extendsinto the casing and is secured to the double pistons 18 and 19. At thebottom of the plunger is an} air inlet 20, which is covered by abutterfly valve 21. The upper end of the piston rod is pivotallyconnected to a lever 22 which is pivoted at one end to swinging arms.23secured to the partition 5. The lever 22 is held normally in thedownward position shown. in Fig. 1, by means of a spring 24.

Communicating with the bottom of the cylinder 16 is an outlet passage25, which is provided with a needle valve 26 at the end of a rod 27.This rod 27 projects'upwardly and passes through a partition 28,terminating in a head 29 having a pointer 30. Upon the partition 28 is adial 31 (see Fig. 5) which is calibrated to indicate the time ofexposure. In the present instance the dial is calibrated up to fifteenminutes,

but it will be understood that in actual when it is turned the valve 26will move to out off or to open up the passage 25.

At the top of the casing is secured a pulley 32 (see Fig. 3) over whichasprocket chain 33 passes through an opening 3 1 in the partition 28,one end of this sprocket chain being secured to the rear portion 6 ofthe cover. The other end of the chain bears a head 35 which is arrangedto engage the lever 22 when the cover is swung backwardly in theposition shown Fig. 3, but which is pulled normally downward in theposition shown in Fig. 1 by (ineans of a p the main features of myinvention, since it spring 36 to which it is secure The switchingdevice, I consider one of positively makes and breaks the circuitthrough the lamps and thus the exposure may be .gaged with absoluteaccuracy. Re-

ferring now particularly to Figs. 3, 4 and 5, I have shown therein apair of contacts 37 and 38. The former is mounted upon an insulatingplate 42 and the latter is carried upon the end of a swinging arm 39which is rigidly secured to a rock shaft 41 which is pivotally mountedin brackets 40 secured to the-partition 5 (see Figs. 4 and 5). Upon therock shaft 41 is loosely mounted a swinging arm 43 (see Figs. 4 and 5)and at the end of thisswinging arm is pivotally mounted a trigger 44,provided wit-h a shoul- I througha lug 50 22. The link 49 is 2, it willbe seen that I have g to that der 44. This shoulder is arranged toengage the end of an arm 45 rigidly secured to the rock shaft 41.Thearm'43 is normally held in a downward position by means of a spring 46which pulls down- 'wardly. on an' L-shaped arm 47 pivotally mounted inthe bracket 40. A V-shap'ed stop member 48 is secured to the plate 42tolimit the movement of the contact 38 (see Fig. 4.) Pivotally securedto the swinging arm 43 is a link 49 which passes upwardly (see Fig. 1)6n the lever collars 51 and 52.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 1 and provided upper and lowercleats 53 and 54, respectively. The upper cleats 53 support a plate ofglass 55 and the lower cleats support a removable 'are 'arranged'to formcontacts that engage the endcontacts of thelamp's; These lamps arearranged in seriesby connecting the spring holding members 59 atopposite ends of alternate lamps by means of conducting I strips 61..Secured to the end "4 of the casing is a contact 62. A similar contact63 is secured to the partition 5 and when the frame 56 is in theposition shown in Fig.2,

the conducting strips 61 engage the contacts 62 and 63. 'Below thelampsI place a lamp 64 which is nonac'tinic, being preferably a ruby lamp.-This lamp is connected provided with adjustable with the lead wire 65 bymeans of the conductor 65, see Fig. 2. The wire 66 leads from the otherside of the lamp to the contact 63 on the partition 5. This contact alsoconnects with the lead wire 66. A branch wire 67 leads from the wire65", passes through the partition 5 and connects with the contact 38 atthe screw 68. A11

From the foregoing description of the vanous parts of the device, theoperation thereof may be readily understood. In Fig. 1, I have shown thenormal position of the device. N ow when it is desired to print from anegative, the handle 11 is grasped andthe cover is swung backwardly intothe position shown in Fig. 3. As it is swung backwardly, the chain 33 ispulled through the opening 34 against the tension of the spring 36 andthe head 35 engages the lever 22 and pulls it upwardly against thetension of the spring 24. The pistons 18 and 19 are therefore pulledupwardly and air is drawn into the cylinder 16 through the passage 20,

the valve 21 lifting to allow the entrance of the air. -When the end 22of the lever has cleared the spring 70, the latter springs under thelever thus keeping the lever in a raised position. A negative is nowplaced on the plate 55, the sensitive paper is adjusted-and theoperator-brings the cover.

downwardly upon rear; portion 6;of paper and holding the sensitivepaper, the the cover engaging the it in position. The operator now letsloose of. the paper. At the same time that the lever 22 is raised, thelink 49' pulls upwardly on the-arm 43 and ,causes the trigger 44 to rideover the end of the arm 45. The position to close the" spring contactswhenever the link 49' is released. The operator now presses together thetwo parts of the handle 11 and forces the cover portion' 7 downwardly.The latter, it will be noticed is provided with a felt or otherresilient pad 71 which engages thepaper to hold it in place. It also isprovided with a cam mem-' ber 72 which enters the opening 73, see Fig.

arm 45 therefore is in a 6, and engages the spring 7 0 camming it out a;

of the way of the lever. The latter is now free to descend and is onlyheld by means of the air in the cylinder 16. The regula tion' of thetime of the descentof the lever is accomplished by means of the needlevalve 26 whi'chmay be set to allow the {air toes cape from the cylinder16 in any given time by means of the dial and pointer 30. The

lever now descends thereby permitting the link 49 .to descend. The-arm43 is. pressed downwardly by means of the spring'46 and arm 47 andtherefore the arm 45 through the medium of the trigger 44 is swungdownlever continues in its downward movement,

the lug 50 comes in contact with the collar 51. This forces the arm 43downwardly and cams the shoulder 44* of the trigger off from the arm thecontact 38 immediately causes the latter to fly outwardly in theposition shown in Figs. 1 and 4 and the circuit through the actinic lamp60 is broken. Now on releas-' ing the handle the cover may be againswung back and the, print maybe removed. The

mere act of swinging the cover back again sets the lever 22 in positionfor timing another print..

It will be seen that I have provided a device which positively cuts onand off the current of the actinic lamps. The time at which this is donemay be accurately gaged by means of the dial so that all of a number ofprints will be printed with the same intensity. It will thus be seenthat a large number of prints can be made within a very short timewithout the danger of some being over-printed and others under-printed.The removable lamp tray permits the ready replacement of any lamp whichis broken and the spring holders forthe lamp serve as terminals so thatit is only necessary to immediately insert a lamp and push the tray intoposition when the apparatus is again in readiness for exposure.

I am aware that other devices based on the same general principles mightbe made but I consider as my own all such modificat-ions as fairly fallwithin the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim 1. In a photographic printing device, a

casing provided with contacts, a tray slidably carried by said casinghaving cdntacts arranged to be engaged by the contacts on the casing, aseries of electric lamps carried by said tray, a hinged cover for saidcasing,

, and means for supplying current to said lamps arranged to be operatedby, said cover when the tray is in its normal position withinsaidcasing. 3

2. In a photographic printing device, a casing provided with ,contacts,

. ably earned by said casing having contacts by said tray,

arranged to be enga ed by the contacts on the casing, a series 0electric lamps carried a hinged cover for said casing, means forsupplying current to said lamps casing, said tray 45. The spring 39bearing,

a tray slidarranged to be operated bysaid cover when the tray is in itsnormal position within said casing, said means including an electricswitch, opening and closing said electric switch.

and a timing device for positively 3. In a photographic printing device,a

casing provided with contacts ably carried by said casing and tactsarranged to engage being provided with a series of spring contacts, aseries of lamps carried by said spring contacts, the termi nals of thelamps being in engagement with said spring contacts, a hinged cover forsaid casing, and means for supplying current to said lamps arranged tobe operated by said cover.

4. In a photographic printing device, a casing, a cover hinged thereto,a partition having an opening, a flexible member secured to said coverand passing through said opening, a spring secured to one end of saidflexible member, a cylinder, a piston therein, a lever pivotally securedto said piston at one end and having a pivotal connection with'the frameat the other end, and means carried by the flexible connection foroperating the lever.

5. In a photographic printing device, a casing, electric lights carriedthereby, a hinged cover for said casing, a cylinder within the casingprovided with an opening for the escape of air, a piston within saidcylinder, a lever pivoted at one end to said cylinder and at the otherend to the casing, an electric switch, an adjustable arm connecting saidlever with said switch for operating the latter, a flexible connectionsecured to said cover, .and means carried by said flexible connectionfor. engaging the lever when the cover is raised.

6. In a photographic printing device, a cylinder having an opening,means for regulating the size of the opening, a piston withinsaidcylinder, a lever pivotally connected at one end with said piston and atthe other end with the casing, switch, an arm connected with said switchand arranged to be engaged by said lever for operating the switch, aflexible member secured to saidcover, a spring secured to one end ofsaid flexible connection, means carried by said flexible connection forengaging the lever, the casing for holding the lever in a lockedposition, and means carried by the cover for engaging the lever.

GEORGE W. FERGUSON.

Witnesses:

L. A. STANLEY, SOLON C. Knmon.

a tray slidhavmg cona stop member carried by the stop member andreleasing the contacts of the an electric .11

